IN Esthonia, as elsewhere, we meet with many stories of hidden treasure, frequently in connection with devils, and hence we place this section next to the Devil-stories. The stories of “The Courageous Barn-keeper” and of the “Gallows Dwarfs” are curious and interesting; those which follow are given here only in abstract. In all countries which have been devastated by war, traditions on hidden treasure are common. I remember once reading a story in a newspaper (but I do not know if the report was true) of a quantity of coins of Edward the Confessor and Harold being dug up in a field respecting which there was a tradition in the neighbourhood that a great treasure was concealed in it. In Esthonian as well as in Oriental tales, hidden treausures are usually under the care of non-human guardians, even when it is not said that they were specially placed under their protection. This notion
HIDDEN TREASURES
